Wednesday, 31 August 2016

Having
been so blown away by Harviestoun Brewery’s Ola Dubh 18,
that I created an award for it – 2015’s inaugural Beer ofthe Year, I decided to delve a little deeper into a range
that includes a 12 and also a 16 – all bottled at an
unashamed 8%.

You
may be wondering what these numbers are, so I’ll enlighten you.
This is a range of imperial double porters that have been aged in casks that had
previously been used to mature Highland Park’s excellent
range of whiskies – the 12, 16 and 18 year old expressions.

I’m
already a massive fan of the 12 year old Highland Park, which
I always laud as the best value single malt there is, while the 18
year old is an acknowledged classic – by people more
knowledgeable than me. As for the 16 year old – well they don’t
do a standard 16 year old expression, which suggests these casks
either housed the super expensive Odin from the Valhalla
collection, date back to some earlier date when there might have been
one, or perhaps housed spirit that was removed to be finished in
different casks.

Either
way, if you’re a beer drinking whisky enthusiast, these are enough
to set your mouth watering.

I
don’t think I’ve related the story of how I came to try the Ola
Dubh 18, but it was in Manchester’s Sand Bar at the beginning of
December. They had three or four beers on cask around the corner from
their normal bar, and of the four, the Ola Dubh was the one that my
friend and I opted to try. We both pretty much agreed it was the best
beer we’d ever tasted on the spot.

So
as I said, I made it my beer of the year, and while informing the
brewery of the good news, I asked where I might be able to find some
in my local area. Timperley’s Corks Out turned out to be the
nearest place so, taking advantage of a day off around my birthday, I
headed over there and picked up two of each (amounting to £28.90 for
the six) – one set for me and one for Pablo, who I was sure would
appreciate them. I wasn’t wrong. He immediately scored all three
the maximum five stars our of five on Untappd, and said that
they were everything he always hoped a dark beer would be.

I
have to admit, I couldn’t really tell any difference between them,
but that’s ok because they are all pretty special. The 18 though,
was better when I had it in cask in Sand Bar than it was from the
bottle. That’s probably to be expected.

I
actually returned to Corks Out, Timperley recently with a view to
trying these again and procuring a set for my administrator’s
leaving gift at the same time(with a bonus of further informing this
post), but when I got there, I found they didn’t have it. They
didn’t have much in the way of beer, in all honesty – it is a
wine shop, after all, but there wasn’t even anywhere near as much
as the last time I’d been in.

There
was on display at least, another beer by Harviestoun, a 4.8% lager
going by the name Schiehallion. Picking
up two bottles, I asked at the counter whether they had any other
Harviestoun beers. The proprietor said they had another in the
fridge, but on pulling one out, found its expiry date was October
2015. However, he told me he was certain the ones I’d picked up
were fresh. I took his word for it as I couldn’t see the date on
the bottles – until I got home and found they were to expire the
following month. Hardly a fresh order, but within acceptable bounds,
I suppose. Ultimately, I drank one and it was excellent, so I added
the other to my administrator’s leaving gift, which otherwise was
made up of Thornbridge and Cloudwater beers.

I
don’t know where else I’ll ever get Harviestoun, and specifically
Ola Dubh beers from, but it doesn’t seem worth my while heading
back to Corks Out, Timperley.

Tuesday, 23 August 2016

A
rare chance now to evaluate three of Glenfiddich’s core range side
by side. This was another whisky-themed Christmas present from my
father-in-law, and it is comprised of three 20cl sample bottles. Not
enough to get a full impression, but enough to spend a couple of
pleasant evenings. We have the standard 12 year old, the 15 year old
Solera Vatexpression (both of which I’ve tried before), and
the jewel in the standard Glenfiddich crown, the 18 year old.

I
drank most of the 12 year old at various points, then saved the last
bit for a suitable weekend when I could pour measures of all three
together.

A
few words on presentation first. The box these are presented in is
very nice. It’s sturdy and precise, fitting each of the bottles
side by side. The bottles themselves are smaller representations of
your standard Glenfiddich bottle, adjusted for the particular
vagaries of each expression. Also, they are all 40%.

The
method this time went thusly; I tried the 12 first, and compared it
with the 15. Then tried the 18, comparing that with the 15, before
finally trying the 12 again and comparing it with the 18. Then I
pretty much alternated two sips of each, making notes when I could
think of anything. For context: I was watching the World Snooker
Championship, having a nice time on my own.

First
impressions of the 12 were that after a break of a few weeks, it was
excellent – reliable, and enjoyable. On the nose I thought maybe
there was a bit of cherry. I sniffed the 15 and, in contrast to the
previous time I’d had a bottle, where there had been a strong
impression of blood oranges, this time it was a more subtle aroma of
apple juice. The 18, on the other hand, gave an impression of white
wine.

On
the palate, I noticed that the 15 is far more full-bodied than the
12; it is almost like a paste [not really, but that was the direct
impression]. The 18 just struck me as a bit disappointing, though it
did start to grow in the mouth.

Ultimately
I don’t think there is enough in these bottles for me to fully
appraise the product. I know that I like the 12 already; it’s a
decent go-to, entry level malt and it’s good value. Similarly, I
also know already that I like the 15. It offers something a bit
different (though it didn’t strike me so much that way this time),
and it too, is good value for those extra 3 years. What I can’t
ultimately decide is what I think of the 18. It doesn’t strike me
as that different from the 12, and at more than double the
price, I fail to see the value or the attraction.

I
returned to try the 18 alongside the 15, and again, I just couldn’t
detect enough of a difference. You can’t deny that they are good
and consistent quality across the range, but why you’d want to part
with more than £60 for the 18 when you can get the 15 for around £30
and the 12 for less than £30, I just can’t fathom from this
selection of 20cl tasters.

I’m
pleased to have a chance to try the regular Crown Royal again, as
last time I had a bottle, I hadn’t started writing the blog yet,
and my wealth of experience with whisky was probably more a pittance
of experience. Even more pleasing is that this time I get to try it
alongside the legendary Jim Murray’s 2016 World Whisky of the Year
– the Northern Harvest Rye. Now, I’ve already tried this one
(briefly) also, and it was pretty impressive, so let’s see how they
compare, and how the new king stands up to more rigorous examination.

These
are both very reasonably priced Canadian whiskies – particularly if
you’re visiting Canada and are used to UK type prices. I didn’t
buy them, but from memory, I think over in Canada you’d be looking
at around $25 for the standard, and somewhere around $30-35 for the
NHR. Over here, the standard will be around the same price in pounds,
but the NHR could exceed £50.

The
standard Crown Royal is 40% ABV, while the Northern Harvest has been
beefed up to an enticing 45%. They are presented in quirky crown
shaped bottles and sealed with screw caps.

We
already know how highly Jim Murray rates the NHR, but now that the
rest of the world has had chance to try it, what does everyone else
think?

Reviews
on The Whisky Exchange are overwhelmingly favourable – a lot of 5
star reviews there, a lot. There are a couple of nay sayers, one
calling it “raunchy armpit juice” while others merely call out
the hype. There’s talk of “great whisky… for the price” -
which really strikes me as people getting carried away with the fact
that they like it and it’s affordable.

Meanwhile,
the internet’s journalists and bloggers keep their feet on the
ground and one butt cheek firmly either side of the fence. Not the
best whisky in the world, they say, but a worthy effort.
It doesn’t take expertise and a lifetime of experience to say that.

I
started with a head to head tasting, and was not immediately
impressed. I was mostly recovered from a recent cold, so I was
tempted to attribute any negative impressions to the tail end of
that. The Northern Harvest Rye, nevertheless, was much fuller on the
nose than the standard bottling.

When
I’m struggling to get inside a bottle, I am frequently compelled to
return to it often – leaving aside other bottles I’ve been
delving into and concentrating on the newcomer. So it was here. I
stopped feeling curious about the Talisker Skye, and instead
kept pouring glasses of the two Crown Royals. I’m sorry to say this
continued. I just wasn’t getting the results that I’d come to
expect from the standard, or that I’d first experienced in Canada
with the Northern Harvest Rye, so I ended up endlessly returning to
them, hoping something would be revealed or a part of the puzzle
would click into place.

While
the NHR nicely followed a tea of fish and chips once, I was mostly
getting mixed emotions. A pleasant sweet leather impression was
tempered by the smell of poppers. And, I haven’t mentioned it yet,
but menthol is pervasive throughout – note though, that this isn’t
an impression I’ve read in any other review, anywhere. I
hadn’t detected any of that whilst in Canada, but now, that’s
almost all there is. That just seems to be the way that the wood is
manifesting itself, and while it’s not exactly bad, I’m
just not a fan of menthol and I don’t want it in my whisky – at
least, not so prevalently. Where were the banana and nuts that I’d
tasted? On top of all that, there’s a lot of burn. Normally I like
a bit of burn, but this was not particularly pleasant.

Finally
I did get a slight hint of banana, and it occurred to me that this
was the other side of the minty coin. I’m no expert, but one day,
just peaking out from under the menthol, was a hint of banana – but
not enough to redeem the NHR in my eyes.

All
this makes it hard to imagine what could inspire seasoned
connoisseur like Jim Murray to name this World Whisky of the Year
[all speculation about controversy and marketing aside] – it
certainly isn’t mine. I’ve had some strong contenders this year
already, and the Northern Harvest Rye isn’t even close. In fact, I
found the less complicated, reliable but standard Crown Royal to be
preferable on most occasions.

So,
sorry Canada, you may have the accolade, but I don’t think you
really have the best whisky in the world after all. At least not in
my book.

Tuesday, 9 August 2016

Wild
Turkey represents one of the catalysts of my ever growing enthusiasm
for spirits, and especially whisky. Being a one-time fan of Hunter S.
Thompson, a bottle of the Wild Turkey 101 was the one thing I picked
up in Duty Free on the return of my first ever trip to Canada. I
think it was the first time I’d seen anything exceed 50% ABV, and
while I didn’t really know what I was doing when I drank it (with
ice, admittedly), I enjoyed feeling cool while I did so. So several
years later, I wanted to revisit the Wild Turkey, but maybe get
something a bit fancier.

So
here you have the single barrel, Kentucky Spirit. I went for
this one because it’s another step up from the already premium Rare
Breed, and at $63CAN (around £30 at the time – pre-Brexit),
an absolute steal – you’d be looking at paying around £70 for
this in the UK.

Like
the Wild Turkey 101, it is bottled at 50.5%, and like the Rare Breed,
it is bottled in a receptacle that could be described as vaguely
turkey-shaped. The Rare Breed is like a rotund turkey, while the flat
nature of the Kentucky Spirit more brings to mind splayed
tail-feathers. It is numbered and the glass is particularly nicely
finished. Just before posting this I realised I hadn't found out how old this is, and having looked in all my reliable places, on the Wild Turkey website, and elsewhere... I still don't know. I'm going to guess 6 to 8 years, but that's really no use to you.

I’ve
been sharing this one with guests, which probably makes me the
subject of some envy, because it sure is good - very soft and full
bodied and the extra strength brings out the flavours slowly. There’s
a little dark, bourbon banana on entry and a touch of vinegar on the
nose, but that vanishes almost as soon as it’s detected. There’s
wood, then a sort of mellow sweetness, then the woodiness returns at
the end.

It
was a while before I could bring myself to add water to it, and when
I did, it was the tiniest drop. It took a while for any benefits to
show, and even then, you’re left with the quandary of whether you
preferred it before or not. Adding water removed some of the edge
from that woodiness and some of the burn, but it also reduced the
soft luxuriousness that I consider to be a particularly pleasant
aspect. However, on this occasion I did enjoy it more than ever. It
actually took me well over an hour to drink that one glass, which may
have had something to do with the fact that we were watching a
particularly angering episode of Making a Murderer, but was
more down to the fact that every sip was enough to last a good few
minutes. I certainly wouldn’t add more water than that tiny drop
though.

I’m
not sure I could (in fact, I’m pretty sure I couldn’t justify
paying £70 for it, but it is easily worth the 30 or so that
favourable rates against the Canadian dollar provided at the time I
bought this. When you look at other spirits that cost around £70
though, this probably is at least as good as most. It’s just that,
for me, it’s about getting value. It’s hard for me to truly enjoy
anything I’ve paid 70 quid for.

Cheaper,
here in the UK, is the Woodford Reserve Double Oaked,which is
a previous winner of one of my Spirits of the Yearawards.
This Wild Turkey probably isn’t quite as good as that, but you
might prefer it, and I don't mean that in a condescending way.

Tuesday, 2 August 2016

Big
task ahead of me here; writing about my most recent [at the time of
writing, at least] Christmas excursion to Canada. You can read about
my earlier adventures here and here. This one will be
tough though because there is no overarching theme, just an
assortment of disparate elements. Hopefully I’ll figure out how to
bring it all together over the next few thousand words…

So
a bit of context. We headed over to Canada following the end of
2015’s Distinct Beers Challenge and the start of a new
Winter, Christmas and Festively Themed Beers Challenge –
I’ll be writing about that last one around Christmas time. I
was relying on Canada to provide me with enough variety to triumph
once more, and made sure to make a quick visit to a liquor store at
my earliest opportunity.

Big Rock, big beers

One
of the downsides of Canada is that you can’t pick up booze in a
supermarket, so you have to deliberately go to liquor stores. The
upside is that there are loads of liquor stores. Sure, they are of
varying quality, but you get to learn which the best ones are.

First
up was a store in southern Calgary’s Mackenzie Town. I think it was
a Co-op, but I can’t say for sure. It wasn’t too well stocked
with winter ales, but I did pick up a selection box of Big Rock
bottles – Smoked Roggenbier, Hibernation Strong Ale, Fowl Mouth
ESB and Dunkelweizen.

My
brother-in-law and I would later visit the local Big Rock brewery to
fill a couple of growlers and pick up some other bottles and
cans. Sadly none of them were winter or Christmas themed, but they
are quite brilliantly branded, as you can see from the photo.
Their Traditional Ale is still my favourite of their many varieties,
but it’s always worthwhile seeing what they’ve been brewing
whenever I visit.

There
is a wealth of beer available in Canada, with a number of bars having
their own microbreweries – Original Joe’s and Brewster’s were
two such that we visited during our stay. We may as well go for a
direct comparison on this one. At Brewster’s I tried the Rig Pig Pale Ale
(2/5), Hammerhead Red Ale (3/5) and Curly Horse IPA (3/5), while at
Original Joe’s
I had the Red Ale (3/5) and Haus Frau Euro Pilsner (3/5). Nothing to
choose between them really then. I will say though, Brewster’s do
what they call a flight which is a tray of 5 beers of your
choice, amounting to somewhere over a pint for 8 dollars or
something. Mrs Cake went for one of those, but I just wanted to give
a few beers a proper try.

Now,
my big hope for winterly themed ales was to be the Willow Park liquor
store, which is well known to pretty much be the pick of the bunch.
This place is huge and has beer fridges all down one wall and shelves
opposite of a great many unchilled beers. Elsewhere there’s loads
of wine and spirits.

In
fact, on the day we went there was a tasting event on, where we were
encouraged to try a few things. Well, you probably know me by now,
and if you do, you’ll know I don’t like to try too much because I
usually don’t buy something when I’ve tried it already. I like to
find out what things taste like when I open the bottle – and then
over the following few months. Notwithstanding, at a tasting event,
you can’t taste things the way they really are after a while
because one of the drinks you just had is still sitting on your
palate. I always feel like the representatives are expecting you to
go, “ooh, that’s lovely!”, but all I can muster is a
non-plussed, “yeh, it’s alright, that. Thanks”.

One
of the things we tried was brandy infused with lemon,
and I have to admit, I don’t really get the point of it. If you
want your brandy to taste a bit lemony, you can just squeeze some
lemon juice into itI don’t even know how they decided what would be
the optimum amount of lemon to use. If it isn’t lemony enough for
you, you can put some more in, but if it’s too lemony, they’ve
lost your custom. Yeah, sorry, I just don’t understand this one.
Clearly it isn’t for me.

Vidal Ice Wine: "Naked"

I
don’t really remember trying much else – except some ice wine
which both Mrs Cake and I liked, and bought because it was a few
dollars off, though I noticed later that it only clocks up 9 ABVs.

As
I said, I was really there to seek out winter ales, and I managed to
find a few. The assistant told me about one that was $50, but there
was no way I was ever considering that one – as I told him, I’d
never drink $50 in 30 minutes to an hour, and I could buy a nice
bottle of spirits for that.

A
good thing about beers over in Canada is that many of them come in
oversized bottles, which I found over the duration of my stay to be
very conducive of drinking quickly – before it warms up too much.
It’s nice feeling like you’re able to chug your beer a bit more.

I
did ask, while I was there, whether they had any Canadian pomace
brandy. Being a lover of grappa, I wanted to find out what the
Canadians had to offer, and figured if one place was going to have
any (having looked elsewhere and asked before), this was going to be
it. The assistant wandered off for a few minutes, and on his return
said they didn’t stock any because it’s more expensive than
grappa, and not as good. He couldn’t offer any opinion on why it
should be more expensive, when grappa would have to be shipped over
from Italy, but there you go.

The
last thing on this first visit was to pick up a bottle of spirits for
consumption during our stay. As ever, I didn’t want to go for
anything fancy because I didn’t want to feel guilty about drinking
it too casually, so I kept my focus on Canadian whiskies, and tried
to find something inexpensive. J.P. Wiser’s Deluxe rye whisky fit
the bill.

It
is 40% ABV, and was $20CAD for 75cl. It is presented in a square type
bottle like Johnnie Walker or Bushmills, with about as ordinary a
label as you could expect. At $20, it was great value – at the time
the exchange rate was around $2CAD to the pound, so everything just
seemed incredibly cheap, and this one now has the honour of being the
cheapest whisky I’ve ever bought – cheaper by volume even than
the Cutty Sark I got in Spain. Nevertheless, Wiser’s is a
decent enough whisky. Sadly, it was a while ago now, and I don’t
have any tasting notes, but I would place it above other Canadian
whiskies like Seagram’s 83 and Alberta Springs 10. Probably not
above the Crown Royal though.

Speaking
of Crown Royal, we arrived in Canada to find quite a buzz surrounding
one of their expressions. It seems their Northern Harvest Rye had
been named World Whisky of the Year 2016 by none other than
the renowned Jim Murray. This was the first time the accolade
had been awarded to a Canadian whisky, and everyone was talking about
it.

Of
all the people I spoke to, I was the only one familiar with Jim
Murray’s Whisky Bible and his particular evaluation methods,
but you couldn’t deny the excitement. There was talk of the price
increasing from 35 to more than 80 dollars. People were trying all
their local liquor stores without success after the news caused a
buying frenzy. As you can imagine, everyone wanted to find out what
the world’s best whisky tasted like because, for once they could
afford it, and might even be able to take a little bit of pride in
drinking it. It’s not often you get to own the pinnacle of what the
whisky world has to offer.

I’m
pleased to be able to announce that my brother-in-law managed to get
hold of a bottle for me, for Christmas. I got a bottle of the regular
Crown Royal too, and was initially disappointed to see him unwrapping
a Northern Harvest Rye, but a few minutes later I unwrapped one of my
own.

Mine
remains sealed at this point, but my brother-in-law opened his and
was good enough to offer me a glass. I can reveal now, in advance of
a full appraisal, that it is definitely impressive stuff. I detected
a nice banana impression on entry, soon developing into a sweet
nuttiness. Such clear distinction of flavours, complementing each
other must be the nearest I’ve ever come to experiencing what
Murray means by “balance”. More to come on this in the coming
months, no doubt.

Haig Pinch

A
whisky I probably won’t be able to write more about in the coming
months is one that my brother-in-law (who we will now start calling
Brian) had been given by some family friends. I think it was one of
those things where they were moving house, and came across an old
bottle they didn’t need. Brian had already opened it and tried it.
It was this: Haig 12 year old Pinch.

I’d
never heard of it, but looked it up on Master of Malt, and found it
would have been worth around £80 unopened. That price has since gone
up to £96 but, you know, it’s better to try it – especially when
it’s as good as this turned out to be. I thought it was superb;
light and beautiful, sweet and warming, full-bodied with a fresh
nose.

I’ll
definitely try some more of their stuff in future. The Dimple 15 year
old looks to be available for a [potentially] bargainous £35 on
Master of Malt (assuming it’s anywhere near as good as the Pinch),
then there’s a budget Gold Label at £20 on The Whisky
Exchange.

Eeeee…
what else did we have? This one is the Alberta Premium – it
probably goes without saying that I did finish the Wiser’s with
time to spare – and it is apparently one of the few remaining 100%
rye grain whiskies produced in North America (says Wikipedia). I
bought it because I only wanted a half bottle, and decided the get
the cheapest one at the store I happened to be in at the time. This
was $14.60CAN, which works out to around £7 (for 375ml). There were
occasions when I enjoyed it, and others when I felt it was cheap and
bitter.

Perhaps
one to look out for in the next few years is the Eau Clairedistillery. Located in Turner Valley, they are causing
something of a stir by doing everything the old-fashioned way, using
locally sourced ingredients and traditional methods – including
using horses instead of machinery.

We
were supposed to be giving the distillery a proper visit, but what
with one thing and another, we didn’t really have enough time for
anything other than popping our heads in. They produce vodka, gin and
whisky (though at the time, the whisky wasn’t yet ready), packaged
in stylish Bruichladdich-style bottles. I have tried the gin,
and despite not being gin’s biggest fan, I thought it was good.
They have a reputation for being a bit expensive, which they probably
are by Canadian standards, but the equivalent of £20 for decent
spirit isn’t such a big deal when you’re used to UK pricing.

I
didn’t buy anything because I’d already seen Wild Turkey’s
Kentucky Spirit back at the Willow Park liquor store for
$63CAD. That was just over £30, whereas you’d be paying £70 plus
P&P at The Whisky Exchange. I was saving my meagre travel
allowance for that. I’ll be writing more about that next week, but
I will just say; I have already opened it, and I have seen that it is
good.

So
coming back with me from the Great White North this year were the
Wild Turkey Kentucky Spirit, standard Crown Royal, Crown Royal
Northern Harvest Rye, and a gift box of 20cl Glenfiddich bottles,
incorporating the 12 year old, the 12 year old Solera Vat, and
the 18 year old. That should mean some happy drinking for a few
months – and a few more posts for you to enjoy. Keep on joining me
and I’ll keep on drinking and telling you about it.

Definitions

What happens when you zone out after having had a cheeky lunchtime pint.

Alcothusiast:

Not an alcoholic, someone who appreciates booze.

Anxiety, The:

The uneasy feeling that accompanies any noteworthy hangover.

Booze Buffet Mentality:

The propensity people have to go nuts whenever there's a free bar.

Booze Porn:Photos of alcohol.

Bread Chest:Not booze related, but this term describes the indigestion you get from eating too many bread products too quickly. Just putting it out there...

Crawler's Block:The inability to decide where to go next during a pub crawl - often resulting in crawl stagnation and someone saying, "shall we just have another one here?"

Crawl Stagnation:The result of failing to plan a pub crawl sufficiently - lack of a route, theme or over-familiarity with nearby pubs can all be contributing factors.

Excess Induced Alcohol Aversion:An intolerance for a drink caused (usually) by one occasion of overindulgence.

The Family:My whisky collection.

MOMA:

Moment of Maximum Appreciation. Every bottle has one. It's the time you drink it where you enjoy it most.

Old Man Pub:Traditional British pub, renowned for being quiet, cosy and frequented by old men. Much favoured by people who like a nice chat while they drink.Psychological Drinks Cabinet:Collective term relating to the kinds of alcoholic drinks a person has need for.Road Beers:

Cans of beer that you take with you when you go out, to consume on the way.

The 3 Types of Rum:White, gold and dark. Together they form the base of many a great cocktail.

About Me

Neil Cake is interested in all types of booze, but is by no means an authority or expert. Most of the time he's just trying to be funny, but he is learning, and enjoys sharing his adventures and what he learns on the Drink it How You Like it blog.
Thengyuverrymuuuuuch.